Future of Schutzhund in the USA

By Ed Frawley
Copyright 1998

I can remember the infighting 24 or 25 years ago between NASA (North American Schutzhund Assoc.) and Schutzhund USA, both were young organizations that were going at it tooth and nail to see who would be the primary schutzhund organization in this county. Initially there were not enough members to support 2 clubs. NASA lost, it tried to invent its own rule book - no stick hits. I will bet that most people in the sport today have never heard of NASA or they think its something to do with the space agency. The fact is that there was a bitter fight which was shortly followed by similar problems concerning the growth of DVG.

Many people in this country think that the DVG became popular in the states because its an all breed organization. That's a legitimate reason for joining the organization today but its not the reason that the DVG got its start here 20 years ago. The DVG became popular back then because people got sick of Paul Meloy and his pack of groupies. Good people left the organization to enjoy the sport without the dirty little tricks, the lies and the under the table deals that Meloy orchestrated. People like Tom Rose and Phil Holescher simply said enough is enough.

Schutzhund USA had the same problem today that it had 20 years ago. That problem is Paul Meloy. Meloy has not changed his ways. He is a man without integrity. He will look you in the eye lie to you. He will act like you are his best friend and stick a knife in your back as soon as you turn away. His word means nothing to him. He has proven that again and again and again over the years. His management skills (or lack of them) have almost bankrupt the organization. Meloy is the reason that USA lost 800 members in 1997.

With the organization in a free fall, new and old members who are disgusted with Meloy are asking themselves what else is there? The answer may be the Working Dogs of America (WDA.) The WDA is the schutzhund arm of the German Shepherd Dog Club of America (GSDCA.)

With that said, some may ask how I could ever say this when it was not that long ago that I was tossing arrows at the leadership of the GSDCA. After all aren't they the people responsible for the long backed weak temperamented goofy looking dogs that run around the ACK rings? Well when you stop and think about the Meloy-USA problem, its not difficult decision . I may disagree with the philosophy of the leadership of the GSDCA in regard to what they and I consider the German Shepherd dog should be, but these people are not crooks. They may be misguided but they have their integrity. That's way more than can be said about Meloy and crew.

The fact is that the WDA and the GSDCA have access to all of the foreign trials and foreign judges that USA has. If more people elect to switch clubs there is not much that would be lost, other than Meloy.

People are moving to the DVG and WDA every day. The last time I checked the WDA only had 14 clubs but that was months ago with more clubs forming all the time. Many of the new members are holding dual membership (USA and WDA) This is not a bad idea, the fact is that if enough people move over and become members of the GSDCA they can vote the people they want into leadership positions and change the organization to reflect a working dog organization (something it is not today.)

The fact is that good honest people should not have to put up with the under handed games that Meloy and his buddies play. This next year will see the election of a new President for USA. Unfortunately no one with any back bone has stepped up and tossed his or her hat in the ring (come one ladies - I think its going to take a women to clean up this mess). The names of the people that I have heard may run for president could fill the cast of "DUMB and DUMBER". Just the kind of people Meloy wants to get into that position.

I had just received an e-mail from a friend in Holland (who has a good chance of being on the Dutch WUSV team), he told me that there is a lot of talk in his country about how corrupt the USA selection system is for the WUSV team. He wanted to know if this was true. While I have no factual knowledge of this. I do think that its a sad state of affairs that we have this kind of a reputation and all because of Meloy and crew.